The Meshuganas of the ballet world turn 40.

"Had I known that it would be so difficult," laughs Berta Yampolsky, co-founder and co-director of The Israel Ballet, "I don't think we would have even tried! But we passed the wars, we passed the Intifada, we passed everything--and we kept on dancing. We should go in the Guinness Book!"

It has been 40 years since Yampolsky--who trained at The Royal Ballet School in London--and her husband, Hillel Markman, founded The Israel Ballet with only four dancers and no money in the bank. At the time, Israelis were unfamiliar with ballet's classical repertoire. "In Hebrew," Yampolsky explains, "you say, 'We created something from nothing.' "

Forty years later, The Israel Ballet is still the only ballet company in Israel. It boasts 35 dancers (mostly from Israel, with a handful from Russia, Armenia, and Canada) and a beautiful new space in Tel Aviv to call their own.

Unlike most other classical companies, The Israel Ballet does not have ranks, so every member is both a star and a corps dancer. The repertoire includes traditional works such as Giselle and Don Quixote, and also neoclassical and contemporary works by Yampolsky herself and German choreographer Christian Spuek. The company frequently hosts guest artists from the Kirov and the Bolshoi Ballets.

But it is George Balanchine who holds a singular place in the company's long history. In 1981, after performing Serenade at New York's Carnegie Hall, the company learned that Balanchine himself was in the audience. At the reception that followed, Balanchine complimented the company and then granted it permission to perform many of his ballets free of charge, helping to catapult it to international status.

As for life in Israel, Yampolsky admits that the violence takes a toll: "So many crises with terror and bombs unconsciously affects you and the work, but we keep on." Attracting foreign dancers, who may feel unsafe in Israel, is an issue. But as Yampolsky puts it, "Now it's not safe anywhere in the world, and Israel is a beautiful country." Amazingly, the Israeli government has, through numerous political crises, continued to support the company financially. "Culture is a very important spiritual food," says Yampolsky. "Israelis cannot live without it. Tel Aviv is almost like a little Broadway!"

When asked how she thinks the company has survived 40 years, Yampolsky laughs: "Do you know how we are called here? Meshuganas! They say, 'This is the crazy couple who keeps on and on and on, and they don't give up.' "

In celebration, the company is planning "modest" galas in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, and Haifa. But the bigger goal on the plate for this year: "Peace to continue quietly to work and dance everywhere in the world. Maybe this is too much to wish, but I really would be very happy if this could happen."